Cohomogeneity one manifolds with positive Ricci curvature

Abstract

One of the central problems in Riemannian geometry is to determine how large the classes of manifolds with positive/nonnegative sectional -, Ricci or scalar curvature are (see [Gr]). For scalar curvature the situation is fairly well understood by comparison. Special surgery constructions as in [SY, Wr] and bundle constructions as in [Na] have resulted in a large number of interesting manifolds with positive Ricci curvature. So far the only known obstructions to have positive Ricci curvature come from obstructions to have positive scalar curvature, (see [Li] and [RS]), and from the classical Bonnet-Myers Theorem, which implies that a closed manifold with positive Ricci curvature must have finite fundamental group. It is well known that among homogeneous manifolds G/H this is also a sufficient condition (see e.g. the proof of Corollary 3.5 or [Br]). In this paper we prove that this is true as well when the manifold admits an action by a compact Lie group G with orbits of codimension one.